flip flops
by Princess Abby
Summary: Kel and Neal meat Alanna, this causes some trouble. It was written as if Squire didn't happen, so keep that in mind. This is my first fic.
1. The Meeting

Note: Nothing belongs to me

Note: Nothing belongs to me. This story was written before I read Squire, so it isn't accurate in that sense. Please review, but be kind because this is my first fic! Thanks!

*****************

Kel laughed. "That's Neal." Neal blushed. Suddenly, Kel remembers that Alanna hadn't bothered to contact her at all, as if she wanted to be the only female knight! Kel turned to the red-headed woman and scowled. "How come you wait until now to contact me? Did you want to be the only female knight? I bet that's it! I bet that's your problem!" Kel was beginning to walk away, when Alanna grabbed her arm.

"You don't understand," said Alanna. "I wanted to contact you. I wanted to help you. But Lord Wydlon wouldn't allow it, and Prince-I mean King Jon decided to forbid me from contacting you. But when I saw you, I had to talk to you. I'm very sorry for causing you this trouble and to think they weren't going to tell you." Alanna clinched her fists in attempt to keep from getting angry.

Kel tried to hide the surprise in her face. "Oh," she said. Then she paused. "King Jon! He's always trying to make things hard for me! Putting me on probation, not letting you talk to me, etc, etc."

To her surprise, Alanna laughed. 

"What's so funny?" Kel asked.

"Well, I got quite mad at Jon when he wouldn't let me talk to you. I stormed out of the palace, you should have seen me. It was quite funny, actually."

"That's not all of it, is it?" asked Kel.

"No, you see... Jon and I..." Alanna took a quick look at Neal and whispered something into Kel's ear. Kel's eyes widened, and she and Alanna exchanged a giggle.

"What is it?" asked Neal. "What's so funny?" That caused Alanna and Kel to laugh even harder. Neal put his hands on his hips, scowled and looked away. Kel and Alanna were practically rolling on the floor. Neal stood up. "Women," he said. The more he talked, the more Kel and Alanna laughed.

"Sorry Neal," Kel said when she finally stopped laughing. "It isn't something you need to know right now."

"Yes, it may give you some bad ideas," said Alanna, winking at Kel and laughing. Kel remained emotionless.

"It's not like that," she said to Alanna.

"Oh, I'm sorry."


	2. Cleon

It was drawing near midday, and Keladry and Neal needed to return to the palace

It was drawing near midday, and Keladry and Neal needed to return to the palace. They said goodbye to Alanna and crawled up the bushes. Back in her room, Kel said hello to Lalasa, who was on her way out. She then sat down on her mattress and began to ponder the events of the day. Jump hopped up onto her lap, and Kel was nearly asleep when someone knocked at the door.

Jump barked. Kel yawned, putting her hand over Jump's mouth to shush him. "Who is it?" she asked, sleepily.

"Kel, it's me. May I come in?" It was the voice of Cleon, her red-haired friend.

Kel got up to open the door. Cleon stood on the other side of the door, grinning. "I brought you something," he said. "Or, well, I brought Jump something." He removed his arm from behind his back. In his hand was a stick, not something off a tree but a carved stick, in a snake-like pattern with several running dogs carved into it. The door remained ajar.

"Wow! I'd hate to give it to him, though, he's going to make quite a mess of it with his teeth," said Kel.

"No he wont. Feel it! The coating over it makes it hard. I made it myself."

"Wow!" Kel exclaimed again. She handed it to Jump, who clenched it in his teeth and didn't leave a mark.

"I think he likes it!" Kel said. She sat back down on her mattress. Cleon sat next to her.

"So, I was talking to Neal a couple of minutes ago, and he tells me that you two went out and met the Lioness! Of course, I didn't believe him, and he told me it was true, and that I was supposed to ask you, my wingless angel, about it," said Cleon.

Kel sighed. "Shhh. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. And now that you know, you had better not tell anyone." She put her fingers over her lips to reinstate the fact that he was to be quiet.

Cleon laughed. "How come I can't tell anyone?"

Kel replied, "Because Alanna told me that she wasn't supposed to be talking to me, King Jon's orders. So of Lord Wydlon or King Jon finds out, she's going to be in heaps of trouble, and I probably will end up in trouble, too. And if you knew about it, you could also end up in trouble. So don't tell. Anyone."

"Okay, then fine. What else did you talk about? Neal said that there was some secret that you two wouldn't tell him, what was that?"

"If we couldn't tell Neal, what makes you think I can tell you?"

"Well, Alanna isn't here, and I happen to be smarter, cuter, stronger, and all around better than Neal anyway."

"Sorry, I can't tell you. The Lioness wouldn't be happy."

Cleon leaned over and whispered into Kel's ear, "Shhhhe will never know. It will be our sssssecret. I'm good at keeping ssssssecrets., my delicate rose." Kel felt somewhat uncomfortable. But it was a good kind of uncomfortable. Cleon turned to her and smiled. He put his hand on her neck. He turned his eyes to hers. They moved their faces together closer, until their lips touched. He kissed her again and again and she kissed him back. He moved his fingers through his hair and she grabbed his neck. Kel was confused. "I'm falling in love with Cleon, but I thought I liked Neil!" She thought to herself, and continued kissing Cleon.


	3. Torn Friendships

After eating and washing up, Neal decided to pay Kel a visit

After eating and washing up, Neal decided to pay Kel a visit. He walked to her room to find the door ajar. He thought that was funny, Kel never left the door ajar! He decided to peek in before entering. When he saw what was going on inside, his eyes widened. Kel... and Cleon? The idea was absurd! He pinched his eyes closed and opened them again, but it was no use. He'd always thought that... but nothing made sense now as he tried not to watch.

"NEAL!" yelled Kel. "How dare you spy on me like this! How would you feel if you saw me spying on you like this?"

"Kel, calm down. If this continued, we couldn't keep it a secret, Neal was bound to find out sometime. It's better he found out now than later," Cleon explained. 

Neal stormed into Kel's room. "Cleon! Get away from her!"

"Why should I?" Cleon demanded. He stood there with his hands on his hips, trying to look tough. "She wanted me to! Didn't you, Kel?"

Kel wasn't sure what to say. She looked from Cleon to Neal, and then back to Cleon again. "Yes," she said, tentatively. "Yes, I did want him to. And if you want to know more Neal, yes. I liked it."

Neal didn't know what to say. "Well, I suppose... I suppose you want to be like Alanna! Did you not think that I would figure out the little secret? Alanna and Jon, who would have known? I suppose that's what you want too? Why don't you just get up and find Prince Roald? Tell him you want it to be like Alanna and Jon... I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Neal?" Cleon asked, astounded. "What has gotten into you?"

Neal didn't know quite what had gotten into him. He looked at Cleon. He was trying not to smile, trying to hide his happiness. Neal knew how much he liked her. And besides, to him, Kel was merely a friend. He sat down on the mattress and sighed. "Very well, Cleon. I am sorry. And Kel, I'm sorry to you as well. I don't know why I tried to but into it... I just always had a hard time seeing you two together."

"Why?" Cleon asked.

"Well, I'd always pictured her with someone else."

"Who? Who did you picture me with?" asked Kel.

"I always pictured you with me." As soon as Neal realized what he'd just said, he bushed, looked down and ran out of Kel's room as fast as possible. Kel began to follow.

"Kel, no! Stay here!" Cleon pulled her back.

"Cleon, you'd better go. I need to think," Kel said. And Cleon reluctantly left, closing the door behind him. 

Kel spent the next few days avoiding Neal and Cleon as often as possible. She ate her meals with Owen, who was flattered by the sudden increase of time she spent with him, however he had no romantic feelings for her. She even spent time with Prince Roald more frequently. Whenever Cleon or Neal approached, she would suggest to whoever she was with at the time that they find somewhere else to go.


	4. Secrets

One afternoon after practice, Lalasa handed Kel an unsealed letter

One afternoon after practice, Lalasa handed Kel an unsealed letter.

"Who's it from?" Kel asked, excitedly.

"Open the letter and see." Kel quickly skimmed to the bottom of the letter. It was from Alanna! The letter described how Alanna was doing, and asked Kel for a reply. "Just give the letter to Lasala, and she will be sure to give it back to me," Alanna had written. Kel got busy writing very quickly:

Dear Alanna,

Thank you so much for writing! I enjoyed finally meeting you and finding out why you hadn't talked to me before.

I've been having some guy problems, and I wonder if you would help. First, there's Neal. I've liked him for a long time. The day I saw you, when I got back, Cleon came over with something he'd made for my dog, Jump. We ended up talking, and then kissing. That's when I realized how cute and nice he is, and that I like him. Just then, Neal appeared in the doorway, explained that he figured out everything about you and Jon, and suspected that I wanted the same with Cleon. Then he explained that he always pictured himself with me, and left. I tried to follow, but Cleon held me back. I told Cleon to leave. I've been avoiding both of them, and I don't know what to do!

Sincerely,

Keladry

Kel folded up her letter and handed it to Lalasa. "I'll be back later, Kel" she said, and took Kel's letter and left the room. 

Kel waited weeks for a reply from Alanna. She was finding it hard not to talk to Cleon and Neal, for they were her friends. She wondered what was taking the Lioness so long in writing back. One morning after breakfast, there was a sharp knock at her door.

"Come in," she said.

In came Lord Wydlon, her training master. In his hands he held a letter, It was not the one she had sent, but it looked similar to the first one she had received from Alanna. "I found this in the possession of your maid." Kel could now see that Lalasa was standing behind him, her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry Kel!" Lalasa exclaimed. "But I had to tell!" 

"If people find out about this, Keladry, they will think Alanna magiced you so that you would succeed," said Lord Wyldon.

"Neal was with us the whole time! He has the Gift! He would know if she put any magic on me!"

Lord Wyldon thought for a moment. "Hmm. I suppose you may be right. But to be on the safe side, it would be best if we kept this quiet, and if you and Alanna did not converse via letters or any other means."

Kel sighed. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but she supposed it was for the best. "Very well," she said. Lord Wyldon nodded, and left with the letter, which Kel had hoped he would let her read. This caused another problem. Lord Wyldon had certainty read the letter, and now knew her whole situation with Neal and Cleon! She collapsed on her bed and sighed. There was another nock at her door. "Come in," Kel muttered.

It was Neal. Kel sat up. Her heart didn't beat any faster, and her stomach didn't do any flip-flops. She didn't know what to think, and put on her Yamani face. The boy sat down next to her.

"Kel, I'm sorry," he said.

"Good," said Kel. "I've been so confused. And I've been avoiding both of you, because I don't know what to do. I don't really know exactly what I want. Damn, Neal. What should I do?"

Neal smiled. No flip-flops, no bells ringing, nothing. It was just Neal. Neal said, "Listen. I have something to say... and if it hurts you any I'm sorry. But I need to tell the truth. Cleon has liked you for a very long time. He told me about it. And, I have to say that I never thought of you the same way he did... or does. When I said what I did, it was because I was startled at what was going on between you and him, something I didn't think was ever going to happen. So I freaked, and tried to stop it the only way I knew how... by saying what I did. So if you thought it was real, I'm sorry. But Cleon, he's for real."

Kel nodded. "Thank you Neal, and I'm sorry I avoided you."

"Well, I'm sorry I got angry."

"Well, I'm sorry... I'm just sorry."

Neal and Kel exchanged a hug. And again, Kel didn't feel any more flip-flops. As they were hugging, Cleon walked into the room.

"Neal!" He exclaimed. "I thought you were... I thought you didn't..."

Neal and Kel moved to complete opposite sides of the bed. "We were only hugging. It doesn't mean anything, honest," Neal said. Kel nodded in agreement. Neal continued, "I just explained to her what had happened and we hugged, showing that we're friends again." Kel nodded again. 

Cleon sat down in between them. He turned to Kel and smiled. Her stomach did flip-flops, her heart pounded, and she thought she heard bells ringing off in the distance. "Shall we continue where we left off, my sweet sugar cake?" he asked her.

Kel fell into his arms. "Neal, get out of here!" she exclaimed.


End file.
